Association of Alaska School Boards
Legislative Bulletin
A weekly digest of activity by the Alaska Legislature and U.S. Congress for Alaska’s School Board Members. AASB Tel. 907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995. Executive Director, Carl Rose crose@aasb.org; Editor, John Greely. Review past issues of the Bulletin on the AASB Website at http://www.aasb.org. To unsubscribe send an email requesting the same to jgreely@aasb.org.
This bulletin is distributed by email only. School districts should copy for board members not online.
January 20, 2006
--PERS-TRS FUNDING BILLS GET HEARINGS
--UNIVERSITY, PRISON EXPANSION TIED TOGETHER
--WELLNESS POLICY NOW AVAILABLE FOR DISTRICTS
--FLY-IN SET FOR FEB. 11-14
PERS-TRS FUNDING BILLS GET HEARINGS
The second week of the 2006 legislative session saw committees in the House and Senate tackling disparate issues, from drug penalties and citizen self-defense laws to the length of legislative sessions and the benefits afforded out-of-work residents. On the education front, the most visible issue of the week was embodied in three bills addressing the estimated $5.7 billion unfunded liability facing the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS).
House Bills 374, 375 and 376 would establish the Retirement Benefit Liability Account and appropriate to it streams of revenue from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. and the Amerada Hess account in the Alaska Permanent Fund. An initiative appropriation of $400 million would be made to the TRS and $38 million to the PERS under HB 376.
Sponsored by the House Ways and Means Committee, the bills are the product of six months of interim committee work on the unfunded liability issue that was left unanswered by passage of SB 141 in the 2005 session. Committee Chairman Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau, told a public hearing on the bills today (Friday) that “the only solution to the unfunded liability is simple: lots of cash…But that is not very realistic politically.”
The legislature annually taps into the excess revenue generated by Alaska Housing Finance Corp., and last year siphoned proceeds of the Amerada Hess fund to pay for capital projects. HB 374 and 375 would stake a claim to an annual “dividend” from AHFC and half the proceeds of the Amerada Hess fund for the retirement liability fund.
Weyhrauch said his intent was to put more money into the TRS than the PERS in order to lessen the annual draw now required by increases in the K-12 foundation formula to offset higher retirement costs for school districts. This would tend to get more money “into the classroom” from foundation formula increases, he said.
Another House committee, State Affairs, has been taking testimony on the legal and policy issues surrounding issuance of pension obligation bonds to address the unfunded liability of PERS and TRS. HB 278 would allow the state Municipal Bond Bank to sell bonds and then invest the proceeds at a better interest rate, using the difference to reduce pension liabilities. Some experts believe the state could earn up to $300 million over the next few decades through such devices.
Further hearings on the bills are scheduled. The new Alaska Retirement Management Board, created to oversee the pension systems, is also due to issue a set of recommendations on addressing the unfunded liability next week.
UNIVERSITY, PRISON EXPANSION TIED TOGETHER
What does a new science center at the University of Alaska-Anchorage have in common with a new prison in the Matanuska Valley? How about a tobacco liability settlement?
The unusual connection was embodied in House Bill 381 and Senate Bill 243, introduced this week. The measures, requested by Gov. Frank Murkowski, seek to use tobacco settlement funds to pay the cost of bonds for building $89 million worth of improvements at the university and a $240 million prison.
What’s note-worthy for K-12 educators is that a university projects bill was the vehicle used by the legislature last year to fund a broad range of school projects. So far, none of the $583 million worth of new K-12 school projects requested by districts, or the $400 million in major maintenance requests, have surfaced in any appropriation bill.
WELLNESS POLICY NOW AVAILABLE FOR DISTRICTS
A sample policy for schools to promote better nutrition and physical activity among Alaska children and youth is now available through a team effort of the Association of Alaska School Boards and the Departments of Health and Social Services and Education and Early Development. The Alaska School Wellness Policy Initiative offers school districts a variety of tools, from training and technical assistance to a limited number of grants, to meet the requirements of a new federal law.
Congress adopted amendments in 2004 to the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act mandating that schools adopt policies for improved student wellness, including nutrition guidelines for all foods available at school and goals for physical activity. The requirement for local adoption of the policies is effective at the start of the 2006-07 school year.
“Although genuine concern for children and youth is reflected throughout current Alaska school board policy manuals, the focus on wellness may be a relatively new concept in some districts,” said Sharon Young, associate executive director of AASB, who helped write the sample policy and administrative regulation.
“The extent of the sample policy is minimal by design, since districts are in various stages of awareness and readiness for moving ahead in this regard,” Young said.
The two state departments are collaborating on the creation of a “wellness toolkit” to help districts expand on the sample policy or their existing wellness policies. The toolkit will be available soon. School districts, teachers and parents who wish additional information on the toolkit and other resources should contact Patty Owen, school health coordinator at the Department of Health and Social Services, (907) 465-2768, or Patty_Owen@health.state.ak.us.
The sample policy and administrative regulation may be accessed by going to www.aasb.org.
AASB FLY-IN SET FOR FEB. 11-14
The 2006 Leadership Conference and Legislative Fly-In is scheduled for Feb. 11 to 14 at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau. An exciting list of speakers has been assembled under the theme of “Enlisting the Public’s Help in Making Children Alaska’s Top Priority.” From the opening session of the Youth Advocacy Institute on Saturday to the closing visits to legislative offices on Monday and Tuesday, this year’s Fly-in promises to be very valuable for school board members and superintendents. For more information, see this webpage:
http://aasb.org/Calendar/sprflyin.html
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The inflation rate hit its fastest pace in five years in 2005 as higher costs for energy, housing, education and medical care drove up prices. The closely watched consumer price index rose 3.4 percent last year, up from a 3.3 percent increase in 2004 and the biggest gain since 2000, the Labor Department said.”
USA Today newspaper